January 14, 2013

Last night, the Golden Globes were on, and because of my birthday festivities, I had to record the red carpet and the award show, which was almost better. That way I could fast forward through all of the boring stuff I didn't care much for.

I thought there were so many gorgeous dresses on the red carpet! Everyone always looks so stunning, and I always love seeing who shows up, because there are nominees and presenters, so that's always pretty thrilling; waiting in anticipation. I always watch the red carpet coverage on E! because I think the hosts are much better on that one, and they always seem to get the biggest stars.

Like I said, there were so many beautiful people on the carpet, with so many different styles and colors, but these are my favorites:

Jennifer Garner: STUNNING! This is what a movie star is supposed to look like; graceful and elegant, simple, yet sophisticated. Plus, she was wearing one of my favorite red carpet colors.

Zooey Deschanel: I just love her! I think she always carries herself so well. She remains quirky and has a lot of personality in whatever she wears, but she looks so "Hollywood ready" while she does it.

Taylor Swift: I really love how Taylor's style has evolved over the years. Did it take a little of getting used to when she first started dressing a bit 'older'? Absolutely. She went from being a country cutie in cowboy boots to this sophisticated fashionista. To me, it's so cool that she can pull off both looks with such ease. I love the dress! I think it's a little more daring and drastic than what she's done before, but also not too crazy. She's nominated for a Golden Globe, and that's HUGE. I think she has every right to be a little more bold in her look. I do wish her hair would have been down or maybe in one of her "up-do's" and a little darker with the eye makeup, like she's done before, but I still think she looks gorgeous.

Rachel Weisz: I think Rachel is so beautiful! She always just seems to command the red carpet like an old movie star would. She's kind of like an Audrey Hepburn. Looking back on this dress, I don't know if I'm that crazy about it, but the way she presents it is really what drew me in. I really love her hair and how simple the accessories are for wearing a bit of different kind of dress. She knew how to wear it well, and sometimes that's all that it's really about.

Kate Hudson: Usually I'm not really into Kate Hudson's style, but this dress really made me think twice! I love that even though there are plenty of embellishments on the dress itself, it's simple enough and it gives an excuse to not wear jewelry. I also love the "fitted" look. Too many people were wearing dresses that looked a little too saggy in the top area and made it look a bit sloppy, but this looks incredible. Even though Kate was just a presenter, it's nice that she went a different route from everyone else and still looks fabulous.

Honorable mention:

Emily Blunt: I really love Emily Blunt! And this was before she was married to John Krasinski. I think she's gorgeous, and she seems like one of those rare gems that doesn't seem to know just how gorgeous she is. I also really love the fact that she has an accent and just seems absolutely charming. She looked really amazing on the red carpet last night. So much now, that I'm starting to wonder if maybe she should replace one of the others. WOW!

The award show itself was actually more entertaining than usual. I'm not a Tina Fey fan, so I would've rather had just Amy Poehler up there by herself, but they worked off of each other well, of course. But, I have to say that their funniest moments were of them dressing up in random outfits and pretending to be one of the nominees! Genius. I think they spiced things up a bit, for a process that is usually really slow.

To be honest, the most boring parts of the last night were in the speeches. I get that it's a chance in a lifetime to have all of your dreams coming true, winning for something that you're extremely proud of and having the platform to say anything you want and thank anyone you want...But, after awhile, people start to tune out. Or maybe that's just me. I ended up fast forwarding through most of them just to get to the next award to see who won. I guess I could have just looked up a list online, but this was still a little more fun.
However, the best speeches were Ben Affleck, Jessica Chastain, and Hugh Jackman. You could really feel just how excited they were and how much it meant to them to be winning, rather than being just another award that they were up there accepting, as if it were old hat to them. They were really sincere, and that's what you love to see about a win like that; something that isn't expected or that they feel entitled to, just the reward they've been given because of the hard work, struggle, and energy they've put into a project.

Another highlight for me, obviously, was seeing John K as a presenter with Kristin Bell. I didn't realize he was presenting, so that was a pretty cool moment...

And last, but certainly not least...What was up with Jodie Foster's lifetime achievement speech? Everyone was in tears when they panned around the room, and I was trying to figure out what the heck she was saying. I mean, she was leaning more towards retirement I think, but some of the random lines and phrases she was using had me a bit puzzled. Especially about the line of her not being Honey Boo Boo...I think we knew that. But, the best part of this was when they got a close up of Mel Gibson's face. I think it pretty much speaks for itself.

And the entire time these awards were on, I was wondering what kinds of conversations must be going on at those tables. I mean, you're surrounded by Hollywood's most elite actors and directors. Surely, there has to be some really juicy stuff around there. What I wouldn't give to be a fly on that fancy glass cup...It also had me thinking about who I would want to be seated next to if I ever ended up attending the awards. I'm thinking...George Clooney, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Zooey Deschanel, Taylor Swift...In a room of that caliber, I don't think I'd mind sitting next to anyone really.

All in all, it was a good show! Maybe I'll finally get around to seeing one of the movies on the list. We'll see, though.

Tonight, our young adults group started back after the holiday break for the past month, I'd say. I hadn't been going for awhile before that, because I had just gotten lazy or busy with other things, then the Christmas choir started up and the schedule just wasn't normal, so I hadn't tried. After the first of the year, it was my goal to get into the swing of things once again, because I've been out for too long.
I want to start the new year off right by getting back into my relationships with everyone at church and just getting involved again, because I really miss that.

There wasn't a specific message tonight, it ended up just being us, talking about whatever our hearts called us to at that moment and we got a lot of wonderful things out of it. A lot of hearts were touched and healing was taking place. We talked about how God is the master, and we are merely just the managers of what He has given to us, and it's up to us of what we do with that. We also talked about how we've started to treasure technology more than we do relationships. There were so many things that resonated with me, that I was jotting away in the notebook I had brought.

It was really great just having a chance to be back with good friends and to be in a setting where God and faith are the main focus. I've slipped away from all of that for too long, and I forgot how good it feels to be connected to church and letting the Spirit work through me. It's a pretty wonderful thing. I hung around for a little while after we finished, just talking with a few of my friends about birthday stuff and just how they'd been, etc. It reminded me that things are starting to get back on track and it feels wonderful.